Balanced Diet Elusive for Most

Newswise — "The food guide pyramid is imbalanced and tumbling," says Eric Hentges of the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, speaking Thursday at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo, the world's largest annual food science and ingredient convention.

From Hentges' perspective, it's time for Americans to increase their consumption of fruits, vegetables and milk. He suggests a three- to four-fold increase in regular intake of leafy green vegetables. While that amount may seem daunting, the increase translates to eating additionally only two cups of broccoli or greens over a week.

According to Louise Berner, a nutrition professor at California Polytechnic, no more than half of all consumers eat even the minimum number of recommended servings on the food guide pyramid. She said that number could even be as low as one quarter. Fruit and dairy was most common omission from the diet, with 41 percent of people eating less than a serving of dairy a day.

The problem grows when it comes to children, according to IFT nutrition expert Marilyn Swanson, of the National Food Service Management Institute at University of Mississippi.

She reported only two percent of youths meet all the recommendations of the pyramid, and 16 percent do not meet any of the recommendations. Only one in five youths consume five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

While the USDA works on revising the food guide, Guy Johnson, a nutrition executive, is quick to point out there's more to change than just the food guide. "The pyramid is only part of the message," he said, "It's unfair to single out the pyramid as the cause of obesity or any other problems."

The Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo is the world's largest annual food science and ingredient conference, delivering comprehensive, cutting-edge research and opinion from food science-, technology-, marketing- and business-leaders. Now in it's 64th year, the IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo attracts up to 20,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibiting companies. The convention ends Friday. For more online, see http://www.ift.org.